Providing Knowledge Panels With Search Results

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for providing knowledge panels with search results. In one aspect, a method includes obtaining search results that are responsive to a received query. A factual entity referenced by the query is identified. Content is identified for display in a knowledge panel for the factual entity. The content includes at least one content item obtained from a first resource and at least one second content item obtained from a second resource different than the first resource. Data is provided that causes the identified search results and the knowledge panel to be presented on a search results page. The knowledge panel presents the identified content in a knowledge panel area that is along side at least a portion of the search results.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S.Patent Application No. 61/515,305, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHOD FORSUPPLYING SEARCH RESULTS WITH A KNOWLEDGE CARD,” filed Aug. 4, 2011,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to presenting data with search results.

The Internet provides access to a wide variety of resources, such asimage files, audio files, video files, and web pages. A search systemcan identify resources in response to queries submitted by users andprovide information about the resources in a manner that is useful tothe users. The users then navigate through (e.g., click on) the searchresults to acquire information of interest to the users.

Users of search systems are often searching for information regarding aspecific entity. For example, users may want to learn about a singerthat they just heard on the radio. Conventionally, the user wouldinitiate a search for the singer and select from a list of searchresults determined to be relevant to the singer.

SUMMARY

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification can be embodied in methods that include the actionsof obtaining search results that are responsive to a received query;identifying a factual entity referenced by the query; identifyingcontent for display in a knowledge panel for the factual entity, thecontent including at least one content item obtained from a firstresource and at least one second content item obtained from a secondresource different than the first resource; and providing data thatcauses the identified search results and the knowledge panel to bepresented on a search results page, the knowledge panel presenting theidentified content in a knowledge panel area along side at least aportion of the search results.

Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems,apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions ofthe methods, encoded on computer storage devices.

These and other embodiments can each optionally include one or more ofthe following features. The content can include at least two of an imagefor the factual entity, a title for the factual entity, or a factregarding the factual entity. The knowledge panel area can consume alarger area than each of the search results.

Identifying content for display in the knowledge panel for the factualentity can include selecting the content for the knowledge panel basedon a ranking of content for the factual entity, the ranking being basedon user search events related to the factual entity.

The knowledge panel can include an interactive user interface object.Aspects can further include receiving information specifying aninteraction with the interactive user interface object and providingdata that causes additional content to be presented within the knowledgepanel. The additional content can be selected based on the interaction.

Aspects can further include determining that the received query isassociated with multiple distinct meanings and identifying contentrelated to each of the distinct meanings. The knowledge panel caninclude content for two or more of the distinct meanings.

Aspects can further include identifying a type of entity for the factualentity; identifying a knowledge panel template based on the type ofentity; and generating the knowledge panel by populating the knowledgepanel template with the identified content items.

Identifying content for display in the knowledge panel for the factualentity can include identifying types of content items specified by theknowledge panel template.

The factual entity can include a person. The knowledge panel can includea placeholder for each of an image of the person, a description of theperson, and at least one fact about the person.

The factual entity can include a place. The knowledge panel can includea placeholder for each of an image depicting a map associated with theplace, a description of the place, and at least one fact about theplace.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification can be implemented so as to realize one or more of thefollowing advantages, A knowledge panel is presented with search results(or other pages) to provide data regarding particular entities that havebeen identified as relevant to a search query. Presenting the knowledgepanel with the search results reduces the number of web pages users haveto visit in order to obtain factual information for which the users aresearching, thereby reducing the time required for the users to findinformation that satisfies their informational needs. Knowledge paneltemplates developed for particular types of entities enable contentrelevant to the entities to be displayed to users.

Knowledge panels can improve users' search experiences, in particularfor queries directed to learning, browsing, or discovery. For example,the knowledge panel supplies users with basic factual information or asummary of information about a particular entity referenced in a searchquery. Knowledge panels can assist users in navigating to relatedcontent in a seamless and natural way. Knowledge panels can supply newcontent that may not otherwise be encountered by a user withoutselecting several search results. Knowledge panels can also help usersobtain information faster than they would if the users were required toclick through multiple search results to obtain the information.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment in which a searchsystem provides search services.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a process for supplying searchresults and a knowledge panel.

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of an example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 5A is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 5B is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 8 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of another example search interface in which aknowledge panel is presented with search results.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an example process for providing a knowledgepanel with search results for a search query.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system can provide one or more knowledge panels in response to areceived search query. A knowledge panel is a user interface elementthat provides information or other content related to a particularentity referenced by a search query, such as a person, place, country,landmark, animal, historical event, organization, business, sports team,sporting event, movie, song, album, game, work of art, or any otherentity.

In some implementations, a knowledge panel provides a summary ofinformation for the entity. For example, a knowledge panel for a singermay include the name of the singer, an image of the singer, adescription of the singer, one or more facts about the singer, andcontent that identifies songs and albums recorded by the singer. Othertypes of information and content can also be presented in the knowledgepanel.

The content of a knowledge panel may include content published orotherwise provided by multiple resources, such as multiple web pages.For example, a knowledge panel for a landmark may include an image ofthe landmark that has been published on a first web page that is hostedby a first publisher. The knowledge panel may also include a set offacts about the landmark that have been published on a second web pagepublished by a second publisher different from the first publisher.

A knowledge panel may be presented inline or adjacent to other searchresults for a received query or in place of the other search results.For example, standard search results that provide a link to resourcesdeemed to be responsive to the search query may be presented on one sideof a search results page and a knowledge panel may be presented on theother side of the search results page.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example environment 100 in which asearch system 120 provides search services. The example environment 100includes a network 102, e.g., a local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN), the Internet, or a combination of them, connects websites 104, user devices 106, and the search system 120. The network 102can be accessed over a wired and/or a wireless communications link. Forexample, mobile computing devices, such as smartphones can utilize acellular network to access the network. The environment 100 may includemillions of web sites 104 and user devices 106.

A web site 104 is one or more resources 105 associated with a domainname and hosted by one or more servers. An example web site is acollection of web pages formatted in hypertext markup language (HTML)that can contain text, images, multimedia content, and programmingelements, e.g., scripts. Each web site 104 is maintained by a publisher,e.g., an entity that manages and/or owns the web site.

A resource 105 is data provided over the network 102 and that isassociated with a resource address, e.g., a uniform resource locator.Resources 105 that can be provided by a web site 104 include HTML pages,word processing documents, and portable document format (PDF) documents,images, video, and feed sources, to name just a few. The resources 105can include content, e.g., words, phrases, images and sounds and mayinclude embedded information, e.g., meta information and hyperlinks,and/or embedded instructions, e.g., scripts.

A user device 106 is an electronic device that is under control of auser and is capable of requesting and receiving resources 105 over thenetwork 102. Example user devices 106 include personal computers, mobilecomputing devices, e.g., smartphones and/or tablet computing devices,that can send and receive data over the network 102. As used throughoutthis document the term mobile computing device (“mobile device”) refersto a user device that is configured to communicate over a mobilecommunications network, A smartphone, (i.e., a phone that is enabled tocommunicate over the Internet) is an example of a mobile device. A userdevice 106 typically includes a user application, e.g., a web browser,to facilitate the sending and receiving of data over the network 102.

To facilitate searching of resources 105, the search system 120identifies the resources 105 by crawling and indexing the resources 105provided on web sites 104. Data about the resources 105 can be indexedbased on the resource to which the data corresponds. The indexed and,optionally, cached copies of the resources 105 are stored in a searchindex 122.

The user devices 106 submit search queries 109 to the search system 120.In response, the search system 120 accesses the search index 122 toidentity resources 105 that are relevant to, e.g., have at least aminimum specified relevance score for, the search query 109. The searchsystem 120 identifies the resources 105, generates search results 111that identify the resources 105, and returns the search results 111 tothe user devices 106. A search result 111 is data generated by thesearch system 120 that identifies a resource 105 that is responsive to aparticular search query, and includes a link to the resource 105. Anexample search result 111 can include a web page title, a snippet oftext or a portion of an image extracted from the web page, and the URLof the web page.

Data for the search queries 109 submitted during user sessions arestored in a data store, such as the historical data store 124. Forexample, the search system 110 can store received search queries in thehistorical data store 124.

Selection data specifying actions taken in response to search results111 provided in response to each search query 109 are also stored in thehistorical data store 124, for example, by the search system 120. Theseactions can include whether a search result 111 was selected (e.g.,clicked or hovered over with a pointer). The selection data can alsoinclude, for each selection of a search result 111, data identifying thesearch query 109 for which the search result 111 was provided.

The example environment 100 also includes a knowledge panel apparatus130 communicably coupled to the search system 120 (e.g., directlycoupled or coupled over a network such as network 102). The searchsystem 120 can interact with the knowledge panel apparatus 130 todetermine whether to provide a knowledge panel 113 with search results111 for a search query 109. If it is determined that a knowledge panel113 should be provided, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 can generatethe knowledge panel 113 and provide the generated knowledge panel 113 tothe search system 120, which in turn provides search results 111 and aknowledge panel 113 to the user device 106 that submitted the searchquery 109.

A knowledge panel 113 is typically provided for queries that have beendetermined to reference a particular entity, such as a person, place,country, landmark, animal, historical event, organization, business,sports team, sporting event, movie, song, album, game, work of art, orany other entity. In general, a knowledge panel 113 for a particularentity includes content related to the particular entity. In someimplementations, a knowledge panel 113 includes a set of factualinformation deemed relevant to the particular entity. For example, aknowledge panel 113 for an actor may include biographical information,for the actor, as well as content associated with movies or televisionshows that the actor has appeared. In some implementations, theknowledge panel 113 includes a summary of information related, to theparticular entity. For example, a knowledge panel 113 for a nation mayinclude a map of the nation, the flag of the nation, the officiallanguage of the nation, and/or other facts and content related to thenation.

In some implementations, a knowledge panel 113 is much larger andconsumes more area of a search interface than standard search results111. For example, the knowledge panel 113 may span the length of threeor more standard search results 111 to accommodate the content items inthe knowledge panel 113 and to draw attention to the knowledge panel113.

In some implementations, a knowledge panel 113 is displayed in aknowledge panel area. The knowledge panel area may be presented with oralongside to a search results area that presents search results 111. Insome implementations, the knowledge panel area consumes a larger areathan the area consumed by two or more of the search results presented inthe search results area.

The knowledge panel apparatus 130 includes or is communicably coupled toone or more data storage units that include a content items store 132and a knowledge panel templates store 134. The content items store 132stores content items that can be inserted into a knowledge panel. Ingeneral, the content items are discrete units of content and can be inthe form of text, images, videos, graphics, audio, tables, or othertypes of content.

In some implementations, the content items store 132 includes an indexof entities and data identifying content items relevant to the entities.For example, the index may include data identifying a title for anentity, one or more images relevant to the entity, a description of theentity, one or more facts about the entity, one or more videos relevantto the entity, upcoming events related to the entity, content from asocial networking page associated with the entity, and other informationor types or categories of content that have been deemed relevant to theentity.

The content items for each entity can come from disparate sources and/ordisparate publishers. For example, content items for a particular entitycan be obtained from several different web pages or other resources thatare each hosted by different publishers. To illustrate, the contentitems for a particular actor may include images of the actor receivedfrom several different sources and these images can be included in thesame knowledge panel that is provided in response to a query thatreferences the particular actor. As another example, an image of aperson may be obtained from an official site for the person, and a setof facts and/or description for the person may be obtained from anonline encyclopedia.

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 identifiescontent items for each of a set of entities by crawling the Internet forcontent related to the entity. The knowledge panel apparatus 130 canalso determine which of the obtained content items to provide with aknowledge panel 113 for the entity. For example, some of the contentitems may be more relevant to the entity or more appropriate for theknowledge panel 113 than other content items. As an example, an image ofa person's face may be more appropriate for a knowledge panel 113 thanan image of the person taken from a long distance.

The type or categories of content provided in a knowledge panel 113 maybe determined based on the particular entity or the type of entityreferenced by the knowledge panel 113. For example, a knowledge panel113 for a person may include an image of the person, facts about theperson, and references to any public works produced by the person. Byway of another example, a knowledge panel 113 for a landmark may includeimages of the landmark, facts about the landmark, and travelinformation, such as a map, for a person to travel to the landmark. Thecategories of content that are included in a knowledge panel 113 canalso vary based on the particular entity. For example, a person that hasacted in movies and that has also recorded one or more albums mayinclude references to both types of works. A knowledge panel templatemay specify the content for a knowledge panel 113, as described in moredetail below.

Although different types of content can be provided for different typesof entities and/or different entities within an entity type, theknowledge panels 113 can be configured to provide a recognizable andconsistent user interface for users. In some implementations, eachknowledge panel 113 can have one or more standard types of contentitems. For example, the standard types of content items can include atitle, an image, a description, and one or more facts about the entityfor which the knowledge panel 113 is provided.

In some implementations, the title for a knowledge panel 113 is the nameof the entity or an alias of the entity. For example, the title for aknowledge panel 113 provided for a person can be the name of the person.Similarly, the title for a knowledge panel 113 provided for a countrycan be the name of the country. As the name of the entity may bedifferent from the search query 109 for which the knowledge panel 113 isprovided, the title may also be different than the search query 109. Forexample, a search query 109 may reference an alias or a shortenedversion of a celebrity's name, while the title for the knowledge panel113 may include the celebrity's full legal name. In this way, the titleprovides confirmation of what the knowledge panel 113 references.

The description for the knowledge panel 113 can provide an adequateexplanation of what the entity is, such as a summary of the entity,without going into so much detail to distract from the search interface(or other page) in which the knowledge panel 113 is presented. Candidatedescriptions can be obtained from a variety of places, such as prefixesof text from trusted encyclopedia articles or top ranking web pages.

The image for a knowledge panel 113 can be an image representative ofthe entity for which the knowledge panel 113 is generated. This imagemay vary based on the type of entity and the entity itself. For example,an image for a country may include a map of the country, while an imagefor a person may include a representative image of the person.

The image for a knowledge panel 113 may be selected by taking a topranking image from search results for the entity of the knowledge panel113. For example, a web search directed to images can be performed foran entity and the top ranking image may be selected for the searchresults for inclusion in knowledge panels 113 for the entity.

The set of facts that are presented in a knowledge panel 113 may bedetermined based on the type of entity and/or the entity itself. Forexample, certain facts may be preferred for actors, and a different setof facts may be preferred for singers. Also, certain facts may berelevant to certain entities within an entity type, while not beingrelevant to other entities within the entity type. For example, aknowledge panel 113 for an actor that has won many awards may include alisting of the awards in the set of facts. However, a listing of awardsmay be omitted for an actor that has not yet won any awards.

The set of facts that are presented for a particular entity may be basedon previously received search queries 109 that referenced the particularentity. For example, if a significant number, e.g., at least a thresholdnumber, of previously received search queries 109 have referenced aperson's height, then the person's height may be included in the set offacts that are presented in a knowledge panel for that person. Ingeneral, the facts for an entity can be ranked based on the number ofthe previously received search queries that have been deemed to berequesting information about the entity and that have been deemed to berequesting information about that fact.

Each of the standard types of content items, e.g., title, image,description, and set of facts, can consistently be located in a sameportion of the knowledge panel 113 to provide a consistent userinterface across knowledge panels 113 for different types of entities.For example, an image may be located near the top left corner of theknowledge panel 113 and the description and facts may be located to theright of the image. If a content item for one of the types of contentitems is not available for an entity, then that type of content item maybe replaced with another type of content item. For example, if an entitydoes not have an available image, one or more facts may be presented inthe knowledge panel in place of an image. Note that the standard typesof content items referenced throughout this document are provided abovefor purpose of example, and that other types of content items can beselected as standard content items.

The knowledge panel templates store 134 stores knowledge panel templatesthat can be populated with content items to generate a knowledge panel113. In general, a knowledge panel template specifies types of contentitems to include in the knowledge panel 113 and includes placeholdersfor content items of the specified type. For example, a knowledge paneltemplate may include placeholders for a title, one or more images, adescription, a set of facts, and/or other types of content items.

The knowledge panel templates store 134 can include one or moretemplates for each of a set of entity types. For example, the knowledgepanel templates store 134 may include one or more “person” templates,“place” templates, “landmark” templates, “movie” templates, “business”templates, “game” templates, “sports team” templates, “sports event”templates, and/or “disambiguation” templates. A knowledge panel templatefor a particular type of entity may have placeholders for differentcontent item types than a knowledge panel template for another type ofentity. For example, a knowledge panel template for a country mayinclude a placeholder for a set of images of cities in the country,while a knowledge panel template for a landmark may include aplaceholder for a set of images of other landmarks. Other types ofcontent particular to a type of entity are described below.

The knowledge panel templates store 134 may also include knowledge paneltemplates for entity subtypes. For example, under the “person” entitytype, there may be an “actor” knowledge panel template, a “singer”knowledge panel template, and/or a “historical figure” knowledge paneltemplate. A knowledge panel template for actors may include aplaceholder for a set of images of movie or television show posters formovies or television shows in which the actor performed, while aknowledge panel template for singers may include a placeholder for atable element having information regarding songs released by the singer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a process 200 for supplyingsearch results 206 and a knowledge panel 202. In response to receiving asearch query, for example a search query that references a particularentity, the search system 120 can identify a set of search results 206and interact with the knowledge panel apparatus 130 to generate theknowledge panel 202. The search system 120 can also associate theknowledge panel 202 with the set of search results 206. In this example,the set of search results 206 includes Result_1 through Result_N. Thecontent identified and generated by the search system 120 in conjunctionwith the knowledge panel apparatus 130 is shown in block 201.

The example knowledge panel 202 includes a control 204. The control 204can include a minimization control, an expansion control, and/or a hidecontrol. A minimization control causes the knowledge panel 202 to beminimized when activated. Similarly, an expansion control causes theknowledge panel 202 to expand when activated. The hide control causesthe knowledge panel 202 to be hidden when activated. A user may selectthe control 204 to arrange the knowledge panel 202, for example tofacilitate a user optimized search session.

The search system 120 can provide the set of search results 206 or asubset thereof to a user device for presentation in a search interface211. The search system 120 can also provide the knowledge panel 202 tothe user device for presentation in the search interface 211. In thisexample, the knowledge panel 202 is displayed on the right side of thesearch results 206. In some implementations, the knowledge panel 202 maybe displayed to the left of the search results 206, above the searchresults 206, below the search results 206, or between two of the searchresults 206.

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of an example search interface 300 in which aknowledge panel 320 is presented with search results 311 a-311 d. Thesearch interface 300 can be presented at a user device 106 and includesa query entry field 305 in which a user can enter a search query 309.The search interface 300 also includes a query initiation element 307with which the search query 309 can be submitted to the search system120. For example, in response to user interaction with the searchinitiation element 307, the user device 106 can submit the search query309 to the search system 120.

The search interface 300 also includes a knowledge panel 320 and searchresults 311 a-311 d. In this example search interface 300, the knowledgepanel 320 and the search results 311 a-311 d have been provided inresponse to the search query “European Country.” Although one knowledgepanel 320 and four search results 311 a-311 d are illustrated in thesearch interface 300, other numbers of knowledge panels and othernumbers of search results can be presented in a search interface.

The knowledge panel 320 is for a country (“European Country”), and canbe generated using a “place” template for example. The “place” templatecan specify types of content items with which the knowledge panel 320 isto be populated and include placeholders for the types of content items.For example, the “place” template may include a placeholder for each ofa title, an image depicting a map of the place, a description, a set offacts, one or more sets of images, and/or related search queries.

The knowledge panel 320 includes a title 324 and links 326 to resourceshaving additional information about the European Country. For example,the links 326 include a link to an official web site, weatherinformation, and news about the European Country.

The knowledge panel 320 also includes an image depicting the flag forthe European Country 322, an image depicting a map of the EuropeanCountry 328, a description of the European Country 329, and a set offacts about the European Country 330. In this example, the set of facts330 includes population, GDP, capital and language. The set of facts 330for the knowledge panel 320 may be selected based on the popularity ofthe facts with respect to historical search data for the entity, in thisexample the European Country. For example, facts about the EuropeanCountry searched for more often, e.g., the top X number of searched forfacts, may be selected for inclusion in the set of facts over facts thathave not been search for as often.

The knowledge panel 320 also includes two sets of images 332 and 334.The set of images 332 includes images of cities in the country and theset of images 334 includes images of landmarks located in the country.Each of these types of images can be considered a different type ofcontent item for purposes of populating a knowledge panel. Each imagemay include a link that, when selected, causes a new search to beinitiated for the subject of the image. For example, if an image of acity is selected, the search interface 320 may cause the user device 106displaying the search interface 320 to submit a search query to thesearch system 120 for the city depicted in the image.

The knowledge panel 320 also includes a set of related search queries336. The related search queries 336 may be queries related to theEuropean Country. For example, the related search queries 336 mayinclude queries that reference the European Country, cities within theEuropean Country, or famous residents of the European Country. Eachrelated search query may include a link that, when selected, initiates asearch for the selected search query.

The content items included in the knowledge panel 320 can be obtainedfrom multiple disparate sources. For example, the image of the flag 322and the description 329 may be obtained from an online encyclopedia,while the images 332 of the cities may be obtained from a travel siteindependent of (e.g., provided by a different publisher than) the onlineencyclopedia.

As described above, a knowledge panel may be displayed in a knowledgepanel area. In this example search interface 300, the area insideperimeter 340 may be considered the knowledge panel area. As shown inFIG. 3, this knowledge panel area and the knowledge panel 320 consume alarger area than each individual search results 311 a-311 d. In someimplementation, the knowledge panel area or the knowledge panel may besubstantially the same size as a standard search result or smaller thana standard search result.

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of another example search interface 400 in whicha knowledge panel 420 is presented with search results 411 a-411 d.Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 400 includes aquery entry field 405 in which a user can enter a search query 409 and asearch initiation element 407 with which a search query 409 can besubmitted to the search system 120. The search interface 400 alsoincludes search results 411 a-411 d and a knowledge panel 420. In thisexample search interface 400, the knowledge panel 420 and the searchresults 411 a-411 d have been received from the search system 120 and/orthe knowledge panel apparatus 130 in response to the submission of thesearch query “Ancient Landmark.”

The knowledge panel 420 is for a landmark (“Ancient Landmark”), and canbe generated using a “landmark” template. The “landmark” template caninclude placeholders for types of content related to landmarks, such asa title, an image of the landmark, a description, a set of facts, animage of a map for the landmark, one or more sets of other images thathave been identified as relevant to the landmark, and related searchqueries.

The knowledge panel 420 includes a title 422, an image of the AncientLandmark 424, a description of the Ancient Landmark 426, and a set offacts about the Ancient Landmark 428. This example set of facts 428includes the height of the Ancient Landmark and the year the AncientLandmark was built. The knowledge panel 420 also includes an image of amap for the Ancient Landmark 430, a set of images 432 that includesimages of other landmarks, and a set of images 434 that includes imagesfor related search queries. Each of the images 432 and 434 can include alink that, when selected, initiates a search for the subject of theimage.

In some implementations, a knowledge panel for a place or for a landmarkmay include a reservation element that enables the user to securereservations to visit the place or to visit the landmark. For example,the knowledge panel may include an interactive user interface elementthat receives user information, such as travel dates, originationlocation, and credit card information, and enables the user to securethe reservation within the knowledge panel. In some implementations, aknowledge panel for a place or landmark may include an interactive mapthat enables a user to obtain directions to the place or landmark.

FIG. 5A is a screen shot of another example search interface 500 inwhich a knowledge panel 520 is presented with search results 511 a-511d. Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 500includes a query entry field 505 in which a user can enter a searchquery 509 and a search initiation element 507 with which a search query509 can be submitted to the search system 120. The search interface 500also includes search results 511 a-511 d and a knowledge panel 520. Inthis example search interface 500, the knowledge panel 520 and thesearch results 511 a-511 d have been received from the search system 120and/or the knowledge panel apparatus 130 in response to the submissionof the search query “Famous Actor.”

The knowledge panel 520 is for a person (“Famous Actor”), and can begenerated using a “person” template. The “person” template can includeplaceholders for types of content related to a person, such as a title,an image of the person, a description, a set of facts, one or more setsof images, a table having information regarding the person, and relatedsearch queries.

In some implementations, there may be templates for particular types ofpeople and the content of the templates may differ based on the type ofperson. For example, a template for a singer may include a table thatincludes a placeholder for a list of songs released by the singer, whilea template for an actor may include a placeholder for images depictingposters of movies in winch the actor appeared.

The example knowledge panel 520 includes a title 522, an image of FamousActor 524, a description of Famous Actor 526, and a set of facts aboutFamous Actor 528. This example set of facts 528 includes the date ofbirth of Famous Actor and the net worth of Famous Actor. Other factscould also be presented in a “person” template and can vary based on theperson. For example, if the person is deceased, the date of death may beincluded in the set of facts.

In this example, Famous Actor is credited with movie appearances andmusic. To present information regarding the movie appearances and themusic of Famous Actor, the knowledge panel 520 includes a set of images530 of movie posters for movies in which Famous Actor appeared and a setof images 532 for albums released by Famous Actor. In someimplementations, a table may be used to provide information aboutmovies, albums, or songs related to Famous Actor. An example table isdepicted in FIG. 9 and described below.

The knowledge panel 520 also includes a social networking element 534. Asocial networking element is a user interface element that providesinformation about a social network page that is related to the entityfor which the knowledge panel is being provided. For example, the socialnetworking element 534 depicts a recent post that has been published ona social networking page for Famous Actor. Social networking elementsmay be included in knowledge panels for people that have a public socialnetworking page and/or for people that have been referenced by publicuser posts in social networking environments.

FIG. 5B is a screen shot of another example search interface 550 inwhich a knowledge panel 560 is presented with search results 511 a-511d. The example search interface 550 has content and features similar tothose of the search interface 500 of FIG. 5A. However, the knowledgepanel 560 of FIG. 5B includes a row of images 565 related to FamousActor near the top of the knowledge panel 560. In some implementations,the knowledge panel apparatus 130 can perform a web search, for exampleat query time, to identify content to include in a knowledge panel. Thissearch can be limited to certain types of content, such as for images,video, books, other types of content. In some implementations, theknowledge panel apparatus 130 performs certain types of searches basedon the type of entity referenced in the knowledge panel. For example,the knowledge panel apparatus 130 may initiate a search for images orvideos to include in a knowledge panel for a famous person. By way ofanother example, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 may initiate a searchfor maps or images of landmarks to include in a knowledge panel for aplace or a landmark.

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 providessearch criteria to the search system 120. For example, to identify theimages 565 of Famous Actor included in the knowledge panel 560, theknowledge panel apparatus 130 can provide search criteria thatidentifies Famous Actor and that also identifies the type of search,i.e., an image search. The search criteria can identify the entity forwhich the knowledge panel is provided or the search query received fromthe user device 106. The search system 120 can identify contentresponsive to the search criteria and provide the content to theknowledge panel apparatus 130. In turn, the knowledge panel apparatus130 may select at least a portion of the content for the knowledgepanel. For example, the search system 120 may have provided many imagesrelated to Famous Actor. The knowledge panel apparatus 130 can select aportion of the received images, for example a portion of the higherranked images, for inclusion in the knowledge panel 560

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of another example search interface 600 in whicha knowledge panel 620 is presented with search results 611 a-611 d.Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 600 includes aquery entry field 605 in which a user can enter a search query 609 and asearch initiation element 607 with a search query 609 can be submittedto the search system 120. The search interface 600 also includes searchresults 611 a-611 d and a knowledge panel 620. In this example searchinterface 600, the knowledge panel 620 and the search results 611 a-611d have been received from the search system 120 and/or the knowledgepanel apparatus 130 in response to the submission of the search query“Blockbuster Movie.”

The knowledge panel 620 is for a movie (“Blockbuster Movie”), and can begenerated using a “movie” template. The “movie” template can includeplaceholders for types of content related to movies, such as a title, animage for the movie, e.g., image of movie poster for the movie, adescription of the movie, a set of facts about the movie, one or moresets of images that have been deemed relevant to the movie, and relatedsearch queries for the movie.

The knowledge panel 620 includes a title 622, an image of a movie posterfor Blockbuster Movie 624, a description of Blockbuster Movie 626, and aset of facts about Blockbuster Movie 628. This example set of factsincludes the genre, release date, and rating of Blockbuster Movie. Otherfacts regarding a movie that may be presented in a knowledge panelinclude the cast, director, producer, production companies, revenuegenerated by the movie, location where the movie was filmed and anyother relevant facts.

The knowledge panel 620 also includes a set of images 630 that includesimages of the cast for Blockbuster Movie, and a set of images 632 thatincludes images for related or similar movies. Each of the images 630and 632 can include a link that, when selected, initiates a search bythe search system 120 for information about the subject of the image.The knowledge panel 620 also includes links to related search queries634.

A similar knowledge panel may be provided for other types of entitiessuch as music, television shows, etc. In some implementations, aknowledge panel for movies or other purchasable items includes a userinterface element that enables users to purchase the item.

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of another example search interface 700 in whicha knowledge panel 720 is presented with search results 711 a-711 d.Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 700 includes aquery entry field 705 in which a user can enter a search query 709 and asearch initiation element 707 with which a search query 709 can besubmitted to the search system 120. The search interface 700 alsoincludes search results 711 a-711 d and a knowledge panel 720. In thisexample search interface 700, the knowledge panel 720 and the searchresults 711 a-711 d have been received from the search system 120 and/orthe knowledge panel apparatus 130 in response to the submission of thesearch query “Big Business.”

The knowledge panel 720 is for a business (“Big Business”), and can begenerated using a “business” knowledge panel template. The “business”template can include placeholders for content related to businesses,such as a title, an image depicting a logo for the business, adescription of the business, a set of facts about the business, a stockquote element having stock information for the business, if appropriate,one or more sets of images that have been deemed relevant to thebusiness, a map to a location of the business, links to additionalinformation about the business, and related search queries related tothe business. The “business” template can be used for otherorganizations as well, such as non-profit organizations, schools,churches, or clubs to name a few.

The knowledge panel 720 includes a title 722, an image depicting a logofor Big Business 724, a stock element 726 that presents stockinformation for Big Business, and a description of Big Business 728. Theknowledge panel 720 also includes a set of links 730 that each link to aresource having additional information about Big Business.

The knowledge panel 720 also includes a set of images 732 that includesimages of the leadership of Big Business. For example, the images 732may include images of the CEO, COO, or other prominent leaders of BigBusiness. Each of the images 732 can include a link that, when selected,initiates a search for the subject of the image. For example, userinteraction with (e.g., a user click of) an image of the CEO of BigBusiness may cause the name of the CEO to be submitted as a search queryto the search system 120. Other sets of images may also be included forbusinesses, such as images of products offered by the business. Theknowledge panel 720 also includes links to related search queries 734.

FIG. 8 is a screen shot of another example search interface 800 in whicha knowledge panel 820 is presented with search results 811 a-811 d.Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 800 includes aquery entry field 805 in which a user can enter a search query 809 and asearch initiation element 807 with which a search query 809 can besubmitted to the search system 120. The search interface 800 alsoincludes search results 811 a-811 d and a knowledge panel 820. In thisexample search interface 800, the knowledge panel 820 and the searchresults 811 a-811 d have been received from the search system 120 and/orthe knowledge panel apparatus 130 in response to the submission of thesearch query “Fun Game.”

The knowledge panel 820 is for a game (“Fun Game”), and can be generatedusing a “game” template. The “game” template can include placeholdersfor types of content related to games, such as a title, an image of alogo for the game, a description of the game, a set of facts about thegame, one or more sets of images that have been deemed relevant to thegame, and related search queries related to the game.

The knowledge panel 820 includes a title 822, an image of a logo for FunGame 824, a description of Fun Game 826, and a list of vendors at whichFun Game is offered 828. The knowledge panel 820 also includes a set ofimages 830 that includes images of screen shots from Fun Game, and a setof images 832 that includes images for related or similar games, such asother games that are often purchased by users that purchased Fun Game.Each of the images 830 and 832 can include a link that, when selected,initiates a search for the subject of the image. The knowledge panel 820also includes links to related search queries 834.

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of another example search interface 900 in whicha knowledge panel 920 is presented with search results 911 a-911 d.Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 900 includes aquery entry field 905 in which a user can enter a search query 909 and asearch initiation element 907 with which a search query 909 can besubmitted to the search system 120. The search interface 900 alsoincludes search results 911 a-911 d and a knowledge panel 920. In thisexample search interface 920, the knowledge panel 920 and the searchresults 911 a-911 d have been received from the search system 120 inresponse to the submission of the search query “Big League Team.”

The knowledge panel 920 is for a sports team (“Big League Team”), andcan be generated using a “sports team” knowledge panel template. The“spoils team” template can include placeholders for content related tosports teams, such as a title, an image of a logo for the team, adescription of the team, a set of facts about the team, one or more setsof images that have been deemed relevant to the sports team, informationregarding members of the team, a schedule for the team, and relatedsearch queries.

The knowledge panel 920 includes a title 922, an image of a logo for BigLeague Team 924, a description of Big League Team 926, and a set offacts about Big League Team 928. The set of facts include the stadium,manager, division, and years in which Big League Team won championships.

The knowledge panel 920 also includes a table element 930 that includesinformation regarding players of Big League Team. In particular, thetable element 930 includes the names of the players, the jersey numbersof the players, and the position for the players. The example tableelement 930 includes a scroll bar 932. The scroll bar 932 enables a userto view additional information in the table element 930. For example, ifthe user scrolls the scroll bar 932 down, the user device 106 presentingthe search interface 900 will display lower rows of the table element930 that are not currently in view.

Some queries may be related to multiple entities, such that identifyingthe entity for which the query is directed may be difficult. Forexample, a search query of “phoenix” may be directed to the city inArizona or the mythical bird. For such queries, the knowledge panelapparatus 130 may provide a disambiguation knowledge panel havinginformation about multiple entities. For example, the knowledge panelapparatus 130 may generate a disambiguation knowledge panel for thesearch query “phoenix” that includes disambiguation information aboutthe city in Arizona and information about the mythical bird.Disambiguation information can be considered content that distinguishesbetween different meanings associated with an ambiguous term.Accordingly, disambiguation information can include contentcharacterizing at least one distinct meaning for a term that hasmultiple meanings.

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of another example search interface 1000 inwhich a knowledge panel 1020 is presented with search results 1011a-1011 d. Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 1000includes a query entry field 1005 in which a user can enter a searchquery 1009 and a search initiation element 1007 with which a searchquery 1009 can be submitted to the search system 120. The searchinterface 1000 also includes search results 1011 a-1011 d and an exampledisambiguation knowledge panel 1120. In this example search interface1000, the knowledge panel 1020 and the search results 1011 a-1011 d havebeen received from the search system 120 in response to the submissionof the search query “California Universities.”

As there are many universities in California, it may difficult todetermine an appropriate university for which to provide a knowledgepanel. Thus, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 may provide thedisambiguation knowledge panel 1020, which includes content aboutmultiple universities in California. In particular, the knowledge panel1020 includes content for several public universities located inCalifornia 1022 and content for several private universities located inCalifornia 1024. The content for each university can include a linkthat, when selected, initiates a search for that university, or thatlinks to the official web page for the university.

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of another example search interface 1100 inwhich a knowledge panel 120 is presented with search results 1111 a-1111d. Similar to the search interface 300, the search interface 1100includes a query entry field 1105 in which a user can enter a searchquery 1109 and a search initiation element 1107 with which a searchquery 1109 can be submitted to the search system 120. The searchinterface 1100 also includes search results 1111 a-1111 d and aknowledge panel 1120. In this example search interface 1120, theknowledge panel 1120 and the search results 1111 a-1111 d have beenreceived from the search system 120 and/or the knowledge panel apparatus130 in response to the submission of the search query “profitablecorporation stock quote.”

The example knowledge panel 1120 depicts a financial stock report for acorporation (“Profitable Corporation”). The knowledge panel 1120includes a title 1122, an image depicting a logo for ProfitableCorporation 1124, a description of Profitable Corporation 1126, and afact about Profitable Corporation 1128. The knowledge panel 1120 alsoincludes stock pricing information 1130 for Profitable Corporation andan interactive chart user interface element 1132.

The interactive chart user interface element 1132 enables users toselect a time period for which to view stock prices in chart form andincludes a chart 1134, a scroll bar 1136, and scroll bar element 1138.To move about the chart 1132 and to view stock pricing for a time periodthat is not currently in view, a user can move the scroll bar element1138 left and right along the scroll bar 1136. In response, the userdevice 1106 on which the search interface 1100 is displayed can updatethe chart 1132 to present the appropriate stock pricing information.

In some implementations, stock pricing information that can be presentedin the interactive chart user interface element 1132 is provided to theuser device 106 in advance of user interaction with the interactivechart user interface element 1132. In this way, the user device 106 canupdate the chart 134 in response to user interaction with the scroll bar1136 without initiating additional content requests to the search system120 or to another resource. In some implementations, the interactivechart user interface element 1132 causes the user device 106 to requestadditional stock pricing information in response to user interactionwith the scroll bar 1136. Either way, the chart can be updated withinthe knowledge panel 1120 without navigating away from the page depictingthe search results 1111 a-1111 d and the knowledge panel 1120.

Other types of knowledge panels can also incorporate similar interactiveuser interface elements. For example, a knowledge panel having weatherrelated content for a particular location may include an interactiveuser interface element that enables the user to select a time period forweather information or a location for which weather information isdesired.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an example process 1200 for providing aknowledge panel with search results for a search query. The process 1200can be implemented, for example, by the search system 120 in conjunctionwith the knowledge panel apparatus 130.

Query data specifying a search query 109 is received (1202). Forexample, the search system 120 may receive query data specifying a userquery from a user device 106. In response to receiving the query data,the search system 120 may identify search results 111 responsive to thesearch query 109 specified by the query data (1204).

A determination is made whether to provide a knowledge panel 113 withthe search results (1206). In some implementations, the knowledge panelapparatus 130 determines whether to provide a knowledge panel 113 basedon the received search query 109. For example, the search system 120 mayprovide the search query 109 to the knowledge panel apparatus 130 with arequest to provide a knowledge panel 113.

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 determineswhether to provide a knowledge panel 113 for the search query based onwhether the received search query 109 includes or references a factualentity. The knowledge panel apparatus 130 can determine whether thesearch query 109 references a known factual entity and, if so, determineto provide a knowledge panel 113 for the factual entity. In someimplementations, a factual entity is a single conceptual entity, such asa person, place, country, landmark, animal, historical event,organization, business, sports team, sporting event, movie, song, album,game, work of art, or any other entity. In some implementations, afactual entity is a concept, subject, or topic.

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 determineswhether a search query references a factual entity by comparing one ormore terms of the search query to a list of known factual entities. Forexample, if the search query is “songs by Ima Singer,” the knowledgepanel apparatus 130 may determine whether “Ima Singer” is a factualentity by comparing “Ima” and/or “Singer” to a list of known factualentities that are stored in a database. If there is a match to a factualentity of “Ima Singer” or an alias of “Ima Singer,” the knowledge panelapparatus 130 may determine to provide a knowledge panel 113 for “ImaSinger” with search results 111 for the search query “songs by ImaSinger.”

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 determineswhether to provide a knowledge panel 113 based on whether there aremultiple distinct meanings associated with the received search query109. For example, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 may determinewhether the received search query 109 is associated with multipledistinct meanings by comparing each term of the received search query109 to a list of terms that have multiple distinct meanings. Forexample, if the received search query 109 includes the term “phoenix,”the knowledge panel apparatus 130 may determine that the received searchquery 109 has multiple distinct meanings as the term “phoenix” cancorrespond to the city in Arizona (one distinct meaning) or the mythicalbird (another distinct meaning).

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 considersother terms in the received search query 109 when determining whetherthe search query 109 includes multiple distinct meanings. For example,if the received search query 109 includes “phoenix” and “Arizona,” theknowledge panel apparatus 130 may determine that the search query 109 isdirected to the city in Arizona rather than the mythical bird.

If the knowledge panel apparatus 130 determines that the received searchquery 109 is associated with multiple distinct meanings, the knowledgepanel apparatus 130 may determine to provide a disambiguation knowledgepanel with content directed to two or more of the distinct meanings.

If a determination is made to not provide a knowledge panel 113, thesearch system 1100 provides the identified search results for thereceived search query (1208). For example, the knowledge panel apparatus130 may provide data to the search system 120 that specifies that aknowledge panel 113 will not be provided for the received search query109. In turn, the search system 120 can provide the identified searchresults 111 to the user device 106 from which the search query 109 wasreceived without providing a knowledge panel (or content items forpopulating a knowledge panel) for presentation on the user device 106.

If a determination is made to provide a knowledge panel 113, theknowledge panel apparatus 130 identifies a knowledge panel template forthe entity referenced by the received search query (1210). As describedabove, the knowledge panel templates store 134 can include one or moretemplates for each of a set of entity types. For example, the knowledgepanel templates store 134 may include a “person” template and/or a“place” template.

The knowledge panel apparatus 130 can determine the type of entityreferenced by the received search query 109 and access the knowledgepanel templates store 134 to retrieve the appropriate knowledge paneltemplate for the entity. For example, the index of the content itemsstore 132 may include data identifying the type of entity for eachentity indexed therein. In another example, the index of the contentitems store 132 may include data identifying the appropriate knowledgepanel template for each entity. The knowledge panel apparatus 130 canaccess the index to identify the appropriate template for the entityreferenced by the received search query.

Content items are identified for the knowledge panel (1212). In someimplementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 identifies contentitems for the entity referenced by the search query based on theidentified knowledge panel template. For example, the knowledge paneltemplate may specify types of content items for the template and includeplaceholders for the specified types of content items. For example, aknowledge panel template for a person may include placeholders for atitle, e.g., name of the person, an image of the person, a descriptionof the person, a set of facts about the person, an additional contentfor the person.

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 accesses thecontent items store 132 to identify the appropriate content for theknowledge panel based on the content specified by the identifiedknowledge panel template. For example, the content items store 132 caninclude an index of content items for each of a set of entities. Theindex may include data identifying a title for the entity, an image forthe entity, and each other type of content for use in a knowledge panel.As described above, the content items for a particular entity may beobtained from multiple disparate content sources.

In some implementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 accessesseveral databases dynamically to identify content items for theknowledge panel. For example, if one of the specified content items is abirth date for an actor or singer, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 mayaccess a database of celebrity birthdates to obtain the birth date ofthe actor or singer. This operation may be performed before or afterreceipt of the search query 109.

The knowledge panel and search results are provided (1214). In someimplementations, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 generates theknowledge panel 113 and provides the knowledge panel 113 to the searchsystem 120. For example, the knowledge panel apparatus 130 may generatethe knowledge panel 113 by populating the identified knowledge paneltemplate with the identified content items and provide the generatedknowledge panel 113 to the search system 120. In turn, the search system120 can provide the identified search results and the knowledge panel113 to the user device 106 for presentation.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in thisspecification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matterdescribed in this specification can be implemented as one or morecomputer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer programinstructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or inaddition, the program instructions can be encoded on anartificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium canbe, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, acomputer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memoryarray or device, or a combination of one or more of them. Moreover,while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computerstorage medium can be a source or destination of computer programinstructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagated signal. Thecomputer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or moreseparate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, orother storage devices).

The operations described in this specification can be implemented asoperations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored onone or more computer-readable storage devices or received from othersources.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multipleones, or combinations, of the foregoing The apparatus can includespecial purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (Held programmable gatearray) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Theapparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that createsan execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtimeenvironment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of them.The apparatus and execution environment can realize various differentcomputing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributedcomputing and grid computing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform actions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer canbe embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console,a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device(e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive), to name just a few.Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and datainclude all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM,EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal harddisks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a widearea network (“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), andpeer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In someembodiments, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a clientdevice (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving userinput from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated atthe client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can bereceived from the client device at the server.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by data processing apparatus,the method comprising: obtaining search results that are responsive to areceived query; identifying a factual entity referenced by the query;identifying content for display in a knowledge panel for the factualentity, the content including at least one content item obtained from afirst resource and at least one second content item obtained from asecond resource different than the first resource; and providing datathat causes the identified search results and the knowledge panel to bepresented on a search results page, the knowledge panel presenting theidentified content in a knowledge panel area along side at least aportion of the search results.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thecontent includes at least two of an image for the factual entity, atitle for the factual entity, or a fact regarding the factual entity. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the knowledge panel area consumes alarger area than each of the search results.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein identifying content for display in the knowledge panel for thefactual entity comprises selecting the content for the knowledge panelbased on a ranking of content for the factual entity, the ranking beingbased on user search events related to the factual entity.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the knowledge panel comprises an interactive userinterface object, the method further comprising: receiving informationspecifying an interaction with the interactive user interface object;and providing data that causes additional content to be presented withinthe knowledge panel, the additional content being selected based on theinteraction.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningthat the received query is associated with multiple distinct meanings;and identifying content related to each of the distinct meanings,wherein the knowledge panel includes content for two or more of thedistinct meanings.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:identifying a type of entity for the factual entity; identifying aknowledge panel template based on the type of entity; and generating theknowledge panel by populating the knowledge panel template with theidentified content items.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein identifyingcontent for display in the knowledge panel for the factual entitycomprises identifying types of content items specified by the knowledgepanel template.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the factual entitycomprises a person, and wherein the knowledge panel includes aplaceholder for each of an image of the person, a description of theperson, and at least one fact about the person.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the factual entity comprises a place, and wherein theknowledge panel includes a placeholder for each of an image depicting amap associated with the place, a description of the place, and at leastone fact about the place.
 11. A computer storage medium encoded with acomputer program, the program comprising instructions that when executedby data processing apparatus cause the data processing apparatus toperform operations comprising: obtaining search results that areresponsive to a received query; identifying a factual entity referencedby the query; identifying content for display in a knowledge panel forthe factual entity, the content including at least one content itemobtained from a first resource and at least one second content itemobtained from a second resource different than the first resource; andproviding data that causes the identified search results and theknowledge panel to be presented on a search results page, the knowledgepanel presenting the identified content in a knowledge panel area alongside at least a portion of the search results.
 12. The computer storagemedium of claim 11, wherein the content includes at least two of animage for the factual entity, a title for the factual entity, or a factregarding the factual entity.
 13. The computer storage medium of claim11, wherein the knowledge panel area consumes a larger area than each ofthe search results.
 14. The computer storage medium of claim 11, whereinidentifying content for display in the knowledge panel for the factualentity comprises selecting the content for the knowledge panel based ona ranking of content for the factual entity, the ranking being based onuser search events related to the factual entity.
 15. The computerstorage medium of claim 11, wherein: the knowledge panel comprises aninteractive user interface object; and the instructions, when executedby data processing apparatus, cause the data processing apparatus toperform further operations comprising: receiving information specifyingan interaction with the interactive user interface object; and providingdata that causes additional content to be presented within the knowledgepanel, the additional content being selected based on the interaction.16. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions,when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the data processingapparatus to perform further operations comprising: determining that thereceived query is associated with multiple distinct meanings; andidentifying content related to each of the distinct meanings, whereinthe knowledge panel includes content for two or more of the distinctmeanings.
 17. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein, theinstructions, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the dataprocessing apparatus to perform further operations comprising:identifying a type of entity for the factual entity; identifying aknowledge panel template based on the type of entity; and generating theknowledge panel by populating the knowledge panel template with theidentified content items.
 18. The computer storage medium of claim 17,wherein identifying content for display in the knowledge panel for thefactual entity comprises identifying types of content items specified bythe knowledge panel template.
 19. The computer storage medium of claim11, wherein the factual entity comprises a person, and wherein, theknowledge panel includes a placeholder for each of an image of theperson, a description of the person, and at least one fact about theperson.
 20. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein the factualentity comprises a place, and wherein the knowledge panel includes aplaceholder for each of an image depicting a map associated with theplace, a description of the place, and at least one fact about theplace.
 21. A system comprising: a data store for storing content items;and one or more processors configured to interact with the data store,the one or more processors being further configured to performoperations comprising: obtaining search results that are responsive to areceived query; identifying a factual entity referenced by the query;identifying content for display in a knowledge panel for the factualentity, the content including at least one content item obtained from afirst resource and at least one second content item obtained from asecond resource different than the first resource; and providing datathat causes the identified search results and the knowledge panel to bepresented on a search results page, the knowledge panel presenting theidentified content in a knowledge panel area along side at least aportion of the search results.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein thecontent includes at least two of an image for the factual entity, atitle for the factual entity, or a fact regarding the factual entity.23. The system of claim 21, wherein the knowledge panel area consumes alarger area than each of the search results.
 24. The system of claim 21,wherein identifying content for display in the knowledge panel for thefactual entity comprises selecting the content for the knowledge panelbased on a ranking of content for the factual entity, the ranking beingbased on user search events related to the factual entity.
 25. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein: the knowledge panel comprises aninteractive user interface object; and the one or more processors arefurther configured to perform operations comprising: receivinginformation specifying an interaction with the interactive userinterface object; and providing data that causes additional content tobe presented within the knowledge panel, the additional content beingselected based on the interaction.
 26. The system of claim 21, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to perform operationscomprising: determining that the received query is associated withmultiple distinct meanings; and identifying content related to each ofthe distinct meanings, wherein the knowledge panel includes content fortwo or more of the distinct meanings.
 27. The system of claim 21,wherein the one or more processors are further configured to performoperations comprising: identifying a type of entity for the factualentity; identifying a knowledge panel template based on the type ofentity; and generating the knowledge panel by populating the knowledgepanel template with the identified content items.
 28. The system ofclaim 27, wherein identifying content for display in the knowledge panelfor the factual entity comprises identifying types of content itemsspecified by the knowledge panel template.
 29. The system of claim 21,wherein the factual entity comprises a person, and wherein the knowledgepanel includes a placeholder for each of an image of the person, adescription of the person, and at least one fact about the person. 30.The system of claim 21, wherein the factual entity comprises a place,and wherein the knowledge panel includes a placeholder for each of animage depicting a map associated with the place, a description of theplace, and at least one fact about the place.